


and when the sunshine hits your eyes (baby i lose my mind)

by EmWritesFiction



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Bad Days, Multi, No beta we die like my sleep schedule did while writing this, Nonverbal Episode, kinda Angst with a happy ending, like it's not angst but it's not not angst, ooc? who even knows anymore i have given up on canon, vague mentions of trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29426130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmWritesFiction/pseuds/EmWritesFiction
Summary: Leo goes nonverbal. Andrew and Neil are there to help him.aka a v-day gift fic
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard/Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	and when the sunshine hits your eyes (baby i lose my mind)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShadowFist16](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowFist16/gifts).
  * Inspired by [you said the stars aligned (but i know those stars are lying)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26563735) by [ShadowFist16](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowFist16/pseuds/ShadowFist16). 



> This was the hardest damn thing to keep secret from you pls anyways uh happy v-day darling, hope you enjoy <3

When Andrew gets back to the dorm, he can instantly tell that something is wrong. Instead of the usually warm atmosphere, full of music and soft conversation, the room is silent and cold.

He pushes the door closed with a thud, slipping his shoes off before heading to the bedroom. Chances are, Leo and Neil are out together, though they usually warn Andrew before they go anywhere.

Today, there was no such warning. 

It’s not easy, living with broken people, and it’s much harder dating them. There’s a toll, making sure they all have what they need in order to feel safe.

Andrew and his need to know where Neil and Leo are, to make sure they don’t get taken from him again.

Neil, and his constant need to run, run,  _ run _ , hidden behind a smart mouth and his steely determination.

Leo, and his semi-constant flashbacks, memories of pain and loss filled times that just won’t go away.

There are good days, and there are bad days, the frequency then near-unpredictable.

Today is starting to look like a bad day. Not for Andrew, who’s still calm and in control, but for one of his partners, who is probably the cause of the tense silence.

Andrew pads through the dorm, checking first the living room, and then the kitchen, There’s nobody to be seen, so he checks the bedroom next. At first glance, there’s nobody in it, but the second shows that there is, in fact, someone in the room.

Sitting on the floor of the closet, tucked into himself sits Leo, one arm wrapped around his legs, and the other touching the choker around his neck.

“Leo,” Andrew says, voice low, making his presence known. “What happened?”

_ “Flashback,”  _ Leo signs, hands shaky as he flinches back further into the corner. “ _ Can still hear his voice.” _

_ “Nonverbal?”  _ Andrew signs back, hands fumbling over the motions. Sign has never come easy to him, but he’s forced himself to learn, if not for Leo’s sake. Nonverbal days are more common than any of them would wish, Andrew having more than enough of his own.

_ “Yeah. Have been since noon.” _

It’s near five now. Shit.

_ “Neil?” _

_ “Didn’t want to bother him. I’ve been okay.” _

Andrew snorts derisively, crouching down a short distance from the closet.  _ “You’re starting to sound like Neil and his ‘I’m fine’.” _

_ “Is that supposed to be a bad thing?” _

_ “Only if you’re going to start telling me you’re fine when you’re clearly not.” _

From the door, there’s a short huff, Neil walking into the room. “I take offense to that.” The tone of his voice and the small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth seem to say otherwise as he sits down next to Andrew, signing as he goes. _ “Hey, Leo. Bad day?” _

_ “Yes,” _ Leo signs, overlapping with Andrew’s  _ “Read the room, junkie.” _

_ “What can we do?” _ Neil signs rapidly, the motions pulling at the scars on his hands.  _ “If you want us to leave, we can.” _

_ “No.”  _ With a shaky hand, Leo reaches out in their general direction.  _ “Don’t leave, but don’t touch me either. I don’t want to be left with my thoughts.” _

Andrew pushes to his feet, knees cracking in protest.  _ “Valid, but at least get to the bed. The closet isn’t that comfortable.” _

_ “Yeah Leo,”  _ Neil signs cheekily, moving back as well, making sure to give him enough space.  _ “Come on out of the closet. You’ve done it before.” _

_ “That was a stupid pun,”  _ Leo signs bluntly, shakily pushing to his feet once Andrew and Neil are far enough away.  _ “I’m never sitting in the closet again, just to make sure you can never say that ever again.” _

_ “Damn.” _

Andrew sighs, moving both Neil and himself closer to the door.  _ “Keep out of his way, junkie. You need to be far out of touching range.” _

_ “Right, right.” _

Once Leo’s comfortable with the distance, he walks over to the bed, one hand looped tightly on the choker. Riko really did a number on him, and his upbringing didn’t help at all.

They both back up to a safe distance, letting Leo walk past them to climb on the bed, back tucked tightly into the corner in pseudo-reassurance, making sure that nobody can approach without him knowing. He’s still in the same clothes as yesterday; the rumpled sweatpants and hoodie he stole from the other Foxes at some point and never gave back.

Riko’s done a number on all of them, but it’s safe to say that Leo’s gotten the brunt of it, the week at Evermore being a time that’s safer not mentioned.

_“Where do you want Neil and I?”_ Andrew eventually signs, making sure that both he and Neil are still a safe distance. _“And have you eaten yet?”_

_ “You can come a bit closer. Haven’t eaten yet, haven’t managed to leave the room.” _

Well shit. That’s not good at all. “Junkie,” Andrew mutters, elbowing Neil in the side. “Stay with him while I go and make something.”

Neil nods once, taking a couple steps forward before sitting on the floor, starting a furious conversation about Exy in sign.

With a soft huff, Andrew rolls his eyes, leaving the room. He can’t cook worth shit, so that knocks making steak—one of Leo’s favourite foods—out of the question. That leaves him with fries, which'll mean a trip to either a store or a fast food place, the latter seeming more accessible. Leaving the junkies alone isn’t something he wants to do, but Leo hasn’t eaten, and he needs to, so to the Mas it is.

The trip is fast, though that could be because Andrew pushes the speed limit every chance he gets, weaving in and out of cars like a madman. By the time he gets back to Fox tower, it’s been only ten tense minutes. Bypassing the elevator entirely in favour of the stairs, which he climbs as fast as possible. Even though he’s a goalie, he can still move fast, not bothering to skimp on agility training.

He makes it up the stairs quickly, paper takeout bag crinkling as he pushes open the dorm door again, heading to the bedroom without bothering to take his shoes off. Neil’s closer to Leo now than he was earlier, but not by much, still locked in what looks to be a sign battle with himself. 

_ “Catch.”  _ Andrew signs the second Leo looks at him, pausing a second before tossing the bag onto the bed.  _ “Got you some fries. Gonna go make coffee.” _

_ “Thank you.” _ Leo signs, opening the bag slowly and pulling out a carton of fries.  _ “Black coffee?” _

_ “Yeah, I’ll pull out the good stuff.” _ With that, Andrew leaves the room, heading to the kitchen and pulling out the coffee maker Leo was gifted a while back. They have a cabinet for coffee at this point, filed with all of the different brews Leo’s been gifted. With a grimace, Andrew grabs a chair and drags it over, climbing on it so he can reach the shelf where the really good coffee’s kept. Why it’s on the highest shelf, nobody knows, considering that it’s out of reach of all three of them, Neil only being able to reach it if he stands on his tiptoes.

Andrew has the coffee in hand quick enough, the rhythmic pulses of the coffee maker as it pumps out the coffee soothing to watch. As soon as the coffee’s done, he picks up the mug, careful to not burn himself. It’s always easy to forget how hot the mug can get.

Leo’s eyes slightly light up the second Andrew gets into the room, quickly signing.  _ “Thank you. You can put it on the nightstand, and I’ll take it from there.” _

Andrew does as told, moving to sit down on the other bed. There are three in the room, one tucked in the corner, and a loft with a bed both the top and bottom across from it. Neil prefers the loft, so Andrew climbs onto the bottom bed, watching in silence as Leo sips his coffee carefully.

The hours pass in silence, Neil eventually deciding to climb up to his bed and try to sleep. Leo’s breathing evens out not long after, and Andrew hopes that he’s not woken up by a nightmare.

Unfortunately, it turns out to be Andrew who can’t sleep, and he ends up staring at the ceiling and listening to music until around six am, heaving out a frustrated sigh. Instead of pretending to sleep for any longer, he leaves the bedroom, taking the blanket off his bed with him. Maybe a smoke on the roof would help clear his mind.

The sun’s just started rising as he gets to the roof, wrapped in a blanket, dangling his feet over the edge with a cigarette in his hand. A mix of cold morning air and cigarette smoke burns his throat as he stares blankly into the distance, mind buzzing with static.

At some point, there’s the familiar  _ click _ of the door to the roof opening, Leo walking out and sitting beside him. There’s a bar of chocolate and a thermos in his hands, but he puts them down so he can sign.

_ “Early morning?” _

“No,” Andrew says aloud, voice raspy with sleep and disuse. Up here is his safe space, one where he can voice everything he usually buries, and he takes advantage of it. “Couldn’t sleep.”

_ “Were you worried about me?” _

A scoff filled with no malice at all. “My world does not revolve around you, I hope you know.”

_ “Then what does it revolve around?”  _ Leo asks, opening the bar of chocolate and eating a square.  _ “There has to be something.” _

“If It were to revolve around something, it would revolve around my murderous inclinations, and nothing more.”

“You still haven’t pushed me off the roof,” Neil calls from behind, voice smug. “So it appears they’re just for show.”

_ “They’re absolutely for show.” _ Leo signs, now opening his thermos of coffee.  _ “If they weren’t, the both of us would be nothing but specks in the distance.” _

“Shut up,” Andrew grumbles, snagging the chocolate bar and taking a bite. “I’ll push you off the roof for real this time.”

He wouldn’t. Cast in the golden light of the sun, they’re both living works of art, and Andrew is incredibly gay. He’s not a poet, but if he was one, there would be thousands of poems about the two of them tucked away in his heart.

But Andrew is not a poet, and he’s not an artist, so all he can do is open his blanket and gesture for the two to sit under it with him.

There are good days, and there are bad days, but the bad ones are never as bad when they have each other.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope I did your OC and story some justice <3


End file.
